When it comes to new technology, there are your early adopters, who have to get everything first, and then there are people like me.
I’m generally comfortable with getting something in the same decade that it comes out. And sometimes I like to abandon things entirely if I think that subracting them from my life will be an improvement.
For example, I’ve been living without a television for two years now and I don’t think I’ve been missing much. I would have liked to have seen more of the Olympics, but it’s my fault for not stopping by a friend’s house or somewhere else to catch more of the games.
I did just buy a new digital camera last week with every imaginable gizmo, but that had more to do with dropping my old nondigital one in the lake while fishing than any other reason.
That said, I think I could be missing the boat without an iPhone or the new iPad.
I got thinking about that last week when I heard that there’s a new application, or app, developed for the iPhone by the Vatican to provide a daily inspirational video message.
I don’t mean to pick on the Vatican, but it’s not the first organization I think about when I imagine adopting new technology. It took the Vatican centuries to drop Latin. So if the Vatican is already all over iPhone apps, I figure I really must be missing something.
Last week, I started looking at a few of the tens of thousands of applications that have been developed for iPhones and iPod Touches and for the new iPads, which will be in the stores April 3.
A few of my favorites from checking it out and talking to friends:
Go Time. An app that looks for happy hours at restaurants and bars near where you are standing at any given moment. This Seattle company recently expanded around the nation.
Bird Explorer Backyard. An interactive field guide that allows you to identify birds and to report them on a satellite map.
Zillow or RedFin. Both have applications that allow you to look at homes for sale in your neighborhood.
Shazam. You can hold up your cell phone whenever and wherever you hear some music and have the application tell you what you’re listening to and where you can buy it.
Facebook. Another way to reach the popular social media site while you’re on the go.
Fandango. It allows you to check movie times and buy tickets in advance.
Blaze a trail. When biking, hiking, sailing or skiing, you can map your route and mark your time anywhere in the world.
Epicurious. It allows you to examine a huge supply of recipes from a variety of publications and select them by main ingredient, cooking style and other methods. You can see photos and save your favorites.
Stargaze. You can look at the solar system and identify stars in the sky.
I even found one called Flick Fishing that allows you to make a virtual cast and to reel in your catch. It’s not for fly fishers, but I’m sure there’s a fly fishing app out there somewhere.
Apple has sold 75 million iPhones and iPod Touches since 2007. That many people can’t be wrong.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459, benbow@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.